Wild Alive Outside
Forest Science · Ancestral Crafts · Wilderness Skills
What We Do
Three Paths Into the Woods
Immersive outdoor education rooted in nature connection, through science, craft, and skill.
Forest Science
Bear Creek Explorers serve as guardians of a research forest, collecting long-term ecological data and conducting real field research.
Ancestral Crafts
Basketry, spoon carving, and handcraft rooted in natural materials. Group workshops and private events for all skill levels.
Wilderness Skills
Fire making, navigation, knots, shelter building, and plant identification. Skills that build confidence and self-reliance in nature.
Bear Creek Explorers
Guardians of the Forest
A small group of young people spend a full day each week immersed in a family forest near Cheshire, Oregon. They are the guardians of this land, collecting long-term ecological data, learning wilderness skills, and helping protect and maintain the Bear Creek Wilderness.
This isn’t a nature class. It’s a commitment to a place, a community of peers, and a way of being in the world that values observation, competence, and care.
“Bear Creek Explorers has been the heart of our homeschool experience.” — Cristen, BCE parentLearn More & Enroll
Wild Alive Outside
Ancestral Crafts
Basketry, spoon carving, and handcraft with natural materials, gathered, processed, and woven by hand.
In a world of automation, these crafts are a deliberate return: to natural materials, to handwork, and to the rhythms our ancestors knew. Every project begins outside, gathering what the land has to offer.
Bear Creek Wilderness
The Research Forest
47 acres of forest, meadows, ponds, and streams, monitored by students year-round.
Live Data
Weekly environmental monitoring collected by Bear Creek Explorers. Tracking rainfall, air and soil temperature, and bird species observations since 2020.
Student Projects
Original field research conducted by students at Bear Creek, from soil respiration studies to wildlife surveys and lichen inventories.
Field Notes
From the Forest
Dispatches from Bear Creek, the workshop bench, and everywhere in between.